ACR and dynamic range tests

I have been looking at dynamic range tests on dpreview.com for different cameras. I'm particularly intrigued by the "RAW headroom" graphs. They have things like "ACR Best: Exp. -0.85 EV, Shadows 0, Bright. 70, Contrast -25, Curve Linear" (Pentax K10D), "ACR Best: Exp. -1.3 EV, Shadows 0, Bright. 70, Contrast -50, Curve Linear" (Canon 30D) "ACR Best: Exp. -1.0 EV, Shadows 0, Bright. 70, Contrast -50, Curve Linear" (Canon 400D). The "RAW ACR Best" curves for all these cameras are very different, and I don't think I understand their real meaning, so here are a few questions:
- What is a "linear curve" in ACR? Does it mean no curve at all is applied to the RAW data, and so what we see is the actual sensor response? Or, does ACR apply a standard curve to RAW data from all cameras, even when a "linear curve" is selected? Or even yet, are there different default curves (even with "linear curve" selected) for different cameras in ACR, and what implications would this have when comparing graphs from different cameras?
- Since these cameras have most likely been processed with different versions of ACR (since they were released at different times), could ACR's algorithms and defaults have been changed in any way that might prevent these tests from being readily comparable? For example, the noise reduction and highlight recovery algorithms might have been improved in the latest versions of ACR.
Thanks,
Marcos

>- What is a "linear curve" in ACR? Does it mean no curve at all is applied to the RAW data, and so what we see is the actual sensor response? Or, does ACR apply a standard curve to RAW data from all cameras, even when a "linear curve" is selected? Or even yet, are there different default curves (even with "linear curve" selected) for different cameras in ACR, and what implications would this have when comparing graphs from different cameras?
ACR will not give you the actual sensor response with no white balance or gamma encoding; for this purpose you need a specialized program such as DCRaw. If you convert into sRGB or aRGB, the image is encoded with a gamma of 2.2, whereas a gamma of 1.8 is used for ProPhotoRGB.
If you want to linearize the tonal response in ACR you can set the sliders on the basic tab to zero (Exposure, Brightness, Contrast to and Shadows). Curves was added in ACR ver 3.X and you should also set the curve to linear. The Medium and Strong Contrast in the curves tab adds to the Contrast slider in the basic tab, and I think that the two were not merged for reasons of backward compatibility. In all cases, the resulting image is gamma encoded. To learn more about these controls, I would recommend Bruce Fraser's Real World Camera Raw for PSCS2 book. The Exposure and Black sliders set the black and white endpoints respectively. The contrast control applies an S curve around the midpoint, which is set by the Brightness control (see p 81). Jeff Schewe is revising the book for PSCS3 due out shortly.
Dynamic range is limited by the noise floor and improvements in noise reduction in the current version of ACR could affect the results. Phil's dynamic range measurement uses highlight recovery with the Exposure slider (negative values). ACR 4.1 also has the Recovery slider, but he apparently does not use this control.

Similar Messages

ACR Defaults and Dynamic Range

The tone curve in ACR has a profound effect on the dynamic range of the rendered image, and often this is not appreciated by users. To demonstrate the effects of the tone curve on DR, I photographed a Stouffer step wedge with the Nikon D3 and rendered the image into a TIFF with various tone curves and determined the resulting dynamic range with Imatest.
Here is the target rendered with the ACR defaults for this camera, which include a black point of 5 (downsampled and shown as a JPEG):
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/422699368_FRdKT-O.jpg
Shown below is the resulting characteristic curve as determined by Imatest along with the DR and other data. The total dynamic range is only 7.64 stops. This low DR results from the default black point of 5, which rolls off the darker tones as shown on the graph.
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/422697342_tnUFo-O.png
By setting the black to 0, the total DR is increased to 12.3 stops and the useful photographic DR according to various quality levels is shown.
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/422697338_5e8pv-O.png
One can also use a linear tone curve by setting all the basic settings to 0 and the point curve to linear.
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/422697332_u59B5-O.png
For convenience, the tone curves are shown together here.
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/422697328_26BFV-O.gif
One might wonder why Adobe chose a default black value of 5 for the D3, since it severely limits dynamic range by rolling off the blacks. The probable answer is that the full DR can not be reproduced on screen or in print without using a tone curve that would give the image a flat and unattractive appearance. Note that the darker steps of the Stouffer wedge are not distinguishable on the screen but differences can be noted if one measures the values with the eyedropper in PS. The default setting of 5 rolls of shadows which would not be reproduced and enhances contrast in the remaining image.

>Why? Real World Camera Raw is platform agnosticaside from the fact that most all of the images contained in the book happen to come from cameras Bruce and I had/have and those are Canons. To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing in Camera Raw that is camera model dependent except for the DNG Profiles and the baseline demosiacing and noise reduction which vary camera by camera. Why should I care about the Nikon D3 specifically?
In 35 mm style dSLRs (which I would venture to say are used by the vast majority of ACR users) Nikon and Canon are the two major brands. One thing that is camera specific is the baseline exposure offset that ACR uses for these cameras. For the Nikon D3 (and other recent Nikon cameras), ACR uses a baseline exposure offset of +0.5 EV. If you don't know this and try to expose to the right as much as possible, the histogram will appear overexposed in ACR when in reality the channels are far from clipping.
This is demonstrated in the following screen capture using ACR defaults with an Exposure value of 0. The highlights of the target appear blown.
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/423897106_wvzqw-O.png
They also appear blown using the new beta profile, which does not take the baseline exposure offset into account.
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/423897066_xeHoi-O.png
Looking at the raw histogram with Rawnalize, we see that the channels are not blown:
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/423898181_md3kC-O.png
And here are the actual raw values for the red, green and blue channels (highlighted) of Step 1:
http://bjanes.smugmug.com/photos/423901972_MguxL-O.png
The raw headroom in each of the color channels (as shown in the raw histogram) also has something to do with the amount of highlight recovery that is possible. I would think that these considerations would be of inerest to the readers of your Camera Raw book.

Dynamic Range and Exposure

Hi,
This is slightly off topic, but I'm hoping someone might be able to shed some light on issues that I'm experiencing with noise and and posterisation in the shadow areas of shots taken in dimly lit situations. The effect is most noticeable on indoor portait shots - and is common despite correct exposure information in my Canon 5D. I understand the need to bias exposures towards the right of the historgram to ensure maximum dynamic range, but I'm finding this quite challenging to accomplish in practice, without blowing out the highlights.
I'm using fast and expensive glass (e.g. EF24-70 F/2.8 L), and am lead to belive that the 5D has one of the best low light sensors around.
No amount of tweaking in Aperture seems to help (e.g. Chroma Blur) - so I'm running out of ideas (I've tried a variety of ISO settings etc. on the camera). Is this a case of camera technique ? Should I surrender to the flash - or is there anything else I can try.
Thoughts appreciated.
Paul

Hi Paul
Do you have an sample image uploaded some ware that I could have a look at.
I am making the assumption that you are shooting RAW. I am not studio based but have shot a lot of low light images with the 1D/1D MKII/s and I tested a 5D that I had on loan from Canon, the 5D is probably the best low light camera I have used so far.
One trick you may wish to try is running your image trough Noise Ninja!! This seems to pull detail out of the shadows as well as cleaning the noise.
Powerbook 1.5, PowerMac Quad, MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Dynamic Range and Native ISO information

I manage the mobile app "Formats" (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/formats/id890528993?mt=8), and I'm looking to find information on a number of Canon camcorders. In particular, I'm trying to verify the dynamic range and native ISO of the following cameras: XF100XF200XF300 I called Canon customer service and was told they "dont publish that infromation". Can anyone help me? Thanks!

zakray wrote:
I manage the mobile app "Formats" (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/formats/id890528993?mt=8), and I'm looking to find information on a number of Canon DSLRs. In particular, I'm trying to verify the dynamic range and native ISO of the following cameras: 5D Mk II5D Mk III6D7DT5i I called Canon customer service and was told they "dont publish that infromation". Can anyone help me? Thanks!Dynamic range varies depending on the definition used.You might want to check clarkvision.com.

SOS(The Question of SVXMPL_Settled Dynamic Range (DAQmx) example in Sound and Vibration Toolkit)

The SVXMPL_Settled Dynamic Range (DAQmx) example in Sound and Vibration Toolkit only run one time.
How do it ? I want to run again and again.
Sorry, my English very poor.
Windows XP P
LabVIEW 7.1 P
Sound and Vibration Toolkit 3.1
帖子被jwdz在10-22-2005 11:00 PM时编辑过了
" 一天到晚游泳的鱼"
[email protected]
我的个人网站：LabVIEW——北方客栈 http://www.labview365.com
欢迎加入《LabVIEW编程思想》组——http://decibel.ni.com/content/groups/thinking-in-labview

Hi:
I have simulated PXI-4461 in MAX,but the SVXMPL_Settled Dynamic Range (DAQmx) example in Sound and Vibration Toolkit can not right run.
Windows XP P
LabVIEW 7.1 P
DAQmx 7.5
Sound and Vibration Toolkit 3.1
" 一天到晚游泳的鱼"
[email protected]
我的个人网站：LabVIEW——北方客栈 http://www.labview365.com
欢迎加入《LabVIEW编程思想》组——http://decibel.ni.com/content/groups/thinking-in-labview

Dynamic range of exposure for t3i/600d

can someone help me by providing the dynamic range of exposure for t3i. (dynami range - Lowest and highest exposure range in terms of f-stops for a given scene)
Solved!
Go to Solution.

See: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos600d/12
Their testing seems to indicate that it's about 5 stops below and 3&1/3rd stops to 4&1/3rd stops above (depending on if highlight tone priority was swtiched on.)
I think those were JPEG tests (I didn't see any indication of RAW and they usually go out of their way to let you know when they're doing RAW.) There is substantially more bit depth in RAW so it's likely to do a bit better if you shoot RAW.
If you're shooitng anything where you are worried about dynamic range then you should probably be shooting RAW anyway.
Tim Campbell
5D II, 5D III, 60Da

High Dynamic Range

First, a disclaimer. After 23 years of PC use, I converted to Mac only two months ago (why didn't I do this years ago???). I am a photojournalist and am now heavily into using Aperture, which I L-O-V-E. What I'm trying to say here is that I'm a newbie!
Question: Is there a way to combine 3 bracketed images to create one High Dynamic Range (HDR) photo within Aperture? If not, is there a software add-on or plug-in that I can buy for Aperture to accomplish this? I also use Photoshop Elements 4.0 for Mac as my External Editor, so do I need to use something for PSE to accomplsih this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I didn't think it was too hard, but I don't know how others would find it. I think you can download it and use it unregistered with a watermark to test it.
Basically, you export your 3 (or more) images from Aperture using 16 bit tiff. Then drag them into Photomatix. You can then have about 5 different ways to convert an image, but there is only one that I really bother with most of the time. I have it generate an HDR file from the 3 tiffs, and then use "details enhancer" under "tone mapping". You'll have a few sliders to play with to get it how you want.
Here is my favorite I've made, I used 5 exposures (-2,-1,0,1,2)
http://homepage.mac.com/cookiemonster/fallconference2006/large-11.html

Dynamic range: NEED SOME HELP (any help i can g

here's the reason i am here:so lately i've decided to dump the idea of playing movies on my xbox360 and started using my hometheater PC to play it. since it has a X-fi extreme Music on it. and i do like it better because the xbox360's decoder down samples everything to 640kb Dolby Digital 5.. i want to experience the full quality (if not as high as i can get) of Dolby Digital Plus, and DOlby True HD (both lossless soundstream), and the only way to do that these days are through HDMI or analogue output, since SPDIF nor Optical toslink can provide enough bandwidth required by both DD+ and TrueHD soundstream. so now you know the reason i am here. i do understand Xfi currently does not offically support DD+ nor TrueHD, but at least through the analogue output i believe i can get a better fidelity than my 360. here's my problem:like i said, the sound quality is MUCH better through the Xfi than the Xbox360's internal decoder. but i do havve one problem. because the dynamic range is so high, i find myself regulary adjusting the volume several times through the whole movie. so i started playing with the "Smart Volume" setting, since it alters the dynamic range by compressing it. the result is a HEAVILY compressed dynamic range which is not very ideal. because i can hear the level shifts when there's a high volume element followed by a low bolume element, i can hear a very unatural alteration. is there anyway to adjust the level of the dynamic range? because smart Volume only allows for "on" or "off", i wish there's a level slider. another side problem i just found out with my card is that, apparently, my card is a Dell's Xfi Extrmem Music card, that means i am missing the DOlby Digital EX audio console control, and the DTS ES audio console control panel. i understand that both supposely would allow me to adjust the dynamic range levels. i only found this out when i tried to look up the dynamic range option in Xfi on google and there're?A LOT of angry people who are missing those two features in their Extreme Music card. apparently it has to do with Dell's cost cutting strategy in which all their Xfi cards audio decoder are license from Sonic instead of creative, so hardware wise, there's no differnce. but at a software decoding level, there're som features missing. and the people who bought these cards from Dell are real pissed off because they speficied on their page that's it's an Xfi Extreme Music card just like the retail, what they shoud've done is putting the "Dell's" logo next to it stating it's a Dell's Xfi Extreme Music card, meaning some features might not be the same. anywho, i realize it's a lot to read, but i searched the forum and googled the net, can't find any solution. would it be possible for the next driver update to include a slider option for adjusting different levels of Smart Volume?thank you.Message Edited by howzz854 on 04-08-200704:50 AM

and i forgot to list my hardware specs:?Athlon64 3200+ @2.6ghzGskill PC4000 2XGB ramGeforce7800GTXFI Extreme Music (Dell's crap_ missing some features that's suppose to be there in the retail versions)DFI NF4 Ultra-D moboDual 0,000 RPM (2 X 74GB)?WD raptors, 0 array, + 2 Maxtor 200GB (for storage)Enermax 600watt PSUNEC 6X DVD romToshiba external HD-DVD dri've?WinXP SP2?Message Edited by howzz854 on 04-08-200704:28 AM

How can I execute Stored Procedures in PARALLEL and DYNAMICALLY ?

Hi
I have a stored procedure. It can be executed like this
exec test @p = 1;
exec test @p = 2
exec test @p = n;
n can be hundred.
I want the sp being executed in parallel, not sequence. It means the 3 examples above can be run at the same time.
If I know the number in advance, say 3, I can create 3 different Execution SQL Tasks. They can be run in parallel.
However, the n is not static. It is coming from a table.
How can I execute Stored Procedures in PARALLEL and DYNAMICALLY ?
I think about using script task. In the script, I get the value of n, and the list of p, from the table, then running a loop with. In the loop, I create a threat and in the threat, I execute the sp like : exec test @p = p. So the exec test may
be run parallel. But I am not sure if it works.
Any idea is really appreciated.

Hi nam_man,
According to your description, you want to call stored procedures in parallel, right?
In SSIS, we can create separate jobs with different stored procedures, then set the same schedule to kick the jobs off at the same time. In this way, we should be careful to monitor blocking and deadlocking depending on what the jobs are doing.
We can also put all stored procedures in SSIS Sequence container, then they will be run in parallel.
For more information about SSIS job and Sequence container, please refer to the following documents:
http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertutorial/220/scheduling-ssis-packages-with-sql-server-agent/
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms139855(v=sql.110).aspx
If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks,
Wendy Fu
Wendy Fu
TechNet Community Support

Selecting both static and dynamic values in a report.

Hello,
I am using the following LOV for a select list in a form based on another post (Re: Static and Dynamic LOV ordering
It is presenting five static values along with a dynamic LOV.
select d, r
from (select n, d, r
from (select 1 as n, 'NAME_A' d, 1 r
from dual
union all
select 1 as n, 'NAME_B' d, 2 r
from dual
union all
select 1 as n, 'NAME_C' d, 3 r
from dual
union all
select 1 as n, 'NAME_D' d, 4 r
from dual
union all
select 1 as n, 'NAME_E' d, 5 r
from dual
union all
select 2 as n,
(LNAME || ', ' || FNAME || ' (' ||
to_char(DOB, 'MM/DD/YYYY') || ')') display_value,
ID return_value
from my_name_table)
ORDER BY n, r asc)
The static display and return values do not exist in my_name_table, but the static return values are recorded in my_main_table when the user submits the form.
The tables look like this:
my_main_table:
record_id
name_id
my_name_table:
name_id
fname
lname
How can I present the display values associated with the static return values recorded in my_main_table along with the dynamic display values in a report? I am currently presenting the dynamic portion in a report using the following select statment:
select
(my_name_table.LNAME||', '||my_name_talbe.FNAME) AS Name
from my_name_table
WHERE my_main_table.NAME_ID = my_name_table.NAME_ID
I have the additional problem that the static return values are not in my_name_table so the join in the last statement will not find the static values in my_name_table.
Edited by: mterlesky on Feb 24, 2009 9:51 AM

1. You will need to add an outer join to return all the values in the Main table.
2. Then decode the values for the static LOV.
Something like (this is not tested, but should give you the idea)
select
decode(my_main_table.NAME_ID,1,'NAME_A',2,'NAME_B',3,'NAME_C',4,'NAME_D',5,'NAME_B',(my_name_table.LNAME||', '||my_name_talbe.FNAME)) AS Name
from my_name_table
WHERE my_main_table.NAME_ID = my_name_table.NAME_ID(+)
This will all break if any of your static LOV ID values clash with your dynamic LOV ID values.
I am now going to give you a long lecture about hard coding values ..... ;)
Related info: http://simonhunt.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-cope-with-list-of-values-lovs.html
I hope that helps
Shunt

Setting dynamic range?

ok i'm a video editor. how the heck can i set the dynamic range? its a project starting/ending in FCP, i want it to be broadcast safe, ostensibly want to limit the dynamic range to 7db (-12 to -6 or so) i theoretically understand the compressor/limiter can limit the peak here (altho i haven't really made that work) but is there an effect to bring up the bottom too? or another effect where i can do both? i'm stumped. & in dire need... thanks!

ok i'm a video editor
Nothing wrong with that
is there an effect to bring up the bottom too?
Usually that's not a good idea. How would your video look
if you brought up all the blacks to 50%. Yuck.
The idea is to increase your audio "gamma".
There are 3 types of processing for audio:
"Crushing the blacks" In audio terms that would be expanding
or gating out background noise. Room tone is great,
but if it's distracting, an expander with a low threshold (say, -40dB),
will make things sound a little cleaner.
"Boosting gamma" In audio terms that would be a light overall compression.
Set the threshold for, say, -20, and the ratio to about 4, to bring those
details up. Note that this will affect the overall perceived loudness of the track,
so typically TV commercials crank this up to get it "louder" than the show.
"Making luma broadcast safe" In audio terms, this would be limiting your
audio to never go above 0dB. For this you need a limiter, with a high
threshold, e.g. -3dB, a large compression ratio, e.g. 8, and set very fast.
Like the video broadcast safe filter, it shouldn't affect the perceived
loudess (luma) too much. You should already be in the ballpark
before you apply this safety net.
There are plug-ins which will do all three, but you can also just
combine single filters to get the same result.
Keep in mind that an audio level meter is sampling a moving target,
so that you won't see all the peaks. For that reason, it is considered
good practice to set your levels so that speech peaks around -12
(or -6 for commercial rants).
Another thing to remember is your intended audience. Are you
selling cars or telling a sensitive story?
Bottom line: get digital examples of other videos in the same genre.
Take a look at their levels. What sounds good? What fits with the genre?
Hope that helps,
Les

What's the dynamic range of PCI-6289?

Dear Sir:
Could you tell me the dynamic range of PCI-6289?
Is there any difference using PCI-4472 or PCI-6289 when measuring vibration signal?
Thank you!
Regards,

Hello,
The PCI-4472 would be best suited for vibration measurments. It has 24-bit resolution, Simultaneous Sampling, Hardware Time-to-Frequency Domain Conversion, 110 dB Dynamic Range, and hardware filtering. See the following Link for more details on the 4472: http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?cid=10572〈=US
The 6289 was not built with vibration analysis in mind, the the dynamic range is not spec'd.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Sean C.

How does "High Dynamic Range" Photos work?

I see that I'm getting two photos from each shot. I suppose that's because I tabbed "on" the selection to keep the regular photo.
What's going on with "High Dynamic Range" photos and how can I tell which photo is the regular photo and which is the HDR Photo?
Also, is that something new with iOS 8?

You're welcome. Here's the HDR from the IOS 7 User Guide.
“HDR
HDR (high dynamic range) helps you get great shots, even in high-contrast situations. The best parts of three quick shots, taken at different exposures (long, normal, and short), are blended together into a single photo.
Use HDR. (iSight camera on iPad 3rd generation or later) Tap HDR. For best results, keep both iPad and the subject still.
Keep the normal photo in addition to the HDR version. Go to Settings > Photos and Camera.
HDR versions of photos in your Camera Roll are marked with “HDR” in the corner.”
Excerpt From: Apple Inc. “iPad User Guide For iOS 7.” Apple Inc., 2014. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itun.es/us/fJctQ.l

ASA 8.2 - Static NAT and Dynamic NAT Policy together

Hello community,
I have the following problem using a ASA with version 8.2.
1) I have this segment on interface Ethernet 0/0: 192.168.1.0/24
2) Through interface Ethernet 0/1 I will reach several servers using the same source IP, but other servers must be reached using only one IP, for example 192.168.1.70
so, I have configured a Static NAT Rule from interface Ethernet0/0 to interface Ethernet 0/1 which NAT the source IPs to the same IPs: 192.168.1.0/24->192.168.1.0/24. Also I have configured a Dynamic NAT Policy that states when destination IP is "server list" then all the source IPs must be translated to 192.168.1.70.
PROBLEM: when testing it...always the static wins....and Dynamic is never analyzed...Also, no priority for the NAT policy and NAT rules can be done on ASDM...what can I do? is there a way to do this on ASDM or CLI? (preferrely at ASDM)
Thanks for your reply and help!

Hello community,
I have the following problem using a ASA with version 8.2.
1) I have this segment on interface Ethernet 0/0: 192.168.1.0/24
2) Through interface Ethernet 0/1 I will reach several servers using the same source IP, but other servers must be reached using only one IP, for example 192.168.1.70
so, I have configured a Static NAT Rule from interface Ethernet0/0 to interface Ethernet 0/1 which NAT the source IPs to the same IPs: 192.168.1.0/24->192.168.1.0/24. Also I have configured a Dynamic NAT Policy that states when destination IP is "server list" then all the source IPs must be translated to 192.168.1.70.
PROBLEM: when testing it...always the static wins....and Dynamic is never analyzed...Also, no priority for the NAT policy and NAT rules can be done on ASDM...what can I do? is there a way to do this on ASDM or CLI? (preferrely at ASDM)
Thanks for your reply and help!

How to create high dynamic range image in Photoshop Elements 2.0?

I wonder if it is possible to Photoshop Elements 2.0. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

If you are talking about the idea of merging exposures IN ELEMENTS 2 and you are shooting RAW, you can do what Barbara suggests: Open the file once with favorable settings for the bright parts of the image and a second time for the shadows and merge. In Elements 2, the images will not open in 16-bit, and will be converted immediately to 8-bit. You will find that registration is right on, but there will be issues with the process if you want to retain higher bit counts (which to me is really the only way to have higher dynamic range in reality). I don't know where these started to be called 'high-dynamic range', and I think it is really a bit of a misnomer--especially in 8-bit. Even Elements 5 will not support 16-bit images with layers, so the opportunity to get true accentuation of dynamic range is...limited.

ACR and dynamic range tests

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